Community Health Systems Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CYH)

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 14,766 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 678% compared to the typical volume of 1,899 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Health Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Community Health Systems by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,735,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,189,000 after buying an additional 277,827 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 201,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,654 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Community Health Systems during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Community Health Systems by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 49,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 23,902 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Community Health Systems by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 37,211 shares during the period. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CYH. Barclays increased their price target on Community Health Systems from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Community Health Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $2.50 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James cut Community Health Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Community Health Systems from $5.00 to $3.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Community Health Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Community Health Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.52.

Community Health Systems Stock Performance

CYH stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,890,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,362. The company has a market cap of $445.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 1.59. Community Health Systems has a twelve month low of $2.51 and a twelve month high of $6.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.40.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services.